I meant to share these decorations much earlier in the year, but I suppose late is better than never.

We started a chronological study of history this year, beginning at Creation. It will take us several years, but it's my preferred way of studying history. I learned history piecemeal and can't really tell you where major events fit into history (except the obvious ones, like the Civil War being fought before WWII). I'm pleased to finally be learning this, along with my kids.

At any rate, we started out the schoolyear with this bulletin board. The visual started out as an environmental awareness poster from Dollar Tree. Here it is beforehand:

I simply cut around the hands and earth to eliminate the environmental message. To me, it looked like the earth in God's hands. I realize He simply spoke it into existence, but humor me. It's a really nice effect. :)

I have two huge bulletin boards in my homeschool room, so I split them up to be used more effectively. This is my "good work" board that shares the same board as the previous one. It was a Dollar Tree bulletin board kit.

I used some wrapping paper (Hobby Lobby's - love that stuff!) for the backgrounds. I'll be stocking up for school after Christmas from now on!

Here is more Hobby Lobby wrapping paper backgrounds coupled with Dollar Tree luau decorations. This was to illustrate Day 5 of Creation.

I tried to liven up the room a bit more this year by using bright colors. This has worked wonderfully. With drab white walls, things can get boring. So I just created a calendar center on the wall. I've been switching out the motivational posters and banners, along with the appropriate month's calendar.

Lastly, I had intended to let my kids dress these bears for each season. However, it's now spring and they're still in these clothes ... and have been through autumn and winter. Oh well, my kids have enjoyed looking at them!

I really enjoy combining my vintage sheets with matching ginghams (which may or may not be vintage themselves). I loved the botanical print of this sheet, and it was also a bit too large to showcase effectively on a quilt.

I loved these two vintage sheets together. They looked like they were designed to go together - the same shade of blue, different sizes of polka dots. This was also the only way to use such a large floral design, since most quilt patterns aren't conducive to large designs without a huge waste of fabric.

Here's another vintage sheet apron that was an experiment. I rounded the bottom edge of my usual chef's apron pattern and added a ruffle. I think I cut off a little too much when I rounded it, but otherwise it's a cute effect with minimal effort.

A little tip: I've found that it's much easier to line aprons than use bias tape on the edges or try to fold the edges to the back and sew them that way. I'm getting a little better at bias tape, though, so I may not do this forever.

I'm still catching up on projects that I've had made for a year (or more) and just haven't shared yet on the blog. I made this apron sometime early last year and took the picture last summer. And I just gave it away this Christmas.

This is my sweet sister who agreed to model them for me, since it's so hard to take pictures of an apron on yourself.

I really liked this vintage tulip sheet and knew that it would work best for non-quilting purposes (unless it was more of a whole-cloth-type quilt), so an apron immediately came to mind. I simply paired it with some matching pink gingham (also a sheet, but not vintage), and I had an apron that I really liked.

I've had this sweater finished for awhile now but just got around to taking pictures.

Do you see a theme developing here? :)

Anyway, despite the less-than-enthusiastic look in the picture, my daughter loves this shrug and wears it a lot.

What I especially love about it is that it's going to fit for a long time. The ribbing has plenty of "give," and we plan to cuff the sleeves when they start to look too short. With all of this in mind, it should last for several years.

This is a paid pattern, but I highly recommend it (and the designer Elena Nodel). For roughly $6, you get a seamless, gorgeous sweater pattern in sizes Newborn to 14 years so you can make it several times over while your daughter grows. I made this in the 8/9 size. It was super-easy to make, and it looks terrific on. You can find it on Ravelry. It's called Silversage.

Remember this quilt? I actually finished it ages ago and thought I had shared pictures of it. After I pulled it out this weekend to give to a former Sunday school student who just had her first child (a boy), I realized that I had never shared pictures of it finished.

I'm sure you've seen this concept before. It's been around for a few years now. However, I just got a serger (more on that in a minute), and I finally feel up to the task of giving it a whirl. My daughter has been patiently waiting for me to make this skirt for her since last summer. It's a good thing she hasn't grown much in the waist!

In case you haven't noticed, my daughter and I only wear skirts. And you've probably noticed that skirts are hard to come by, especially if they aren't skin-tight, they go past your knees and don't include slits up to your thighs. Modest jean skirts are even harder to find, so I make it a point to look for them at every thrift store we visit. I've had more success finding them in my size than in my daughter's size, so I turned to this idea for my daughter.

Since she's so thin, I was able to buy a 5T pair of pants that had gorgeous embroidery work at the hem. The waist still has room, so she can fit it for awhile. And the skirt is a little on the long side, but she loves it and doesn't trip over it, and I didn't have to cut into that beautiful embroidery, so we're both happy.

The fill-in piece is from one of my favorite sheet prints. I buy this particular print every time I see it in the thrift stores. It coordinated nicely with the embroidery, and my daughter liked it even better than a denim fill-in.

You may or may not notice, but I did change this a little bit from how people usually make these. There is usually this huge section in the front and back that curves over. It's the crotch seam. Well, I'd rather not draw attention to that part of my body, and it looks like a duck tail to me [another thing I'd rather not associate with my body :) ], so I folded and cut until it created a fairly straight seam down to the fill-in part. I like it much, much better this way.

So, on to the serger ... I don't have pictures yet, but my parents found me a serger at an auction for an unbelievable $6!! Of course, I gave them more than that for it and still came out way ahead of the game. It's a White Superlock 534, a model that was out in the late 80's/early 90's. From the reviews I've read, it's a great basic workhorse that will last and last. I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to finally have a serger. I've wanted one since I started sewing (back in 1994), but I could never justify the expense. God is good!

About Me

Christa

I'm a stay-at-home wife and homeschooling mother to two who also happens to be a pastor's wife. We recently got back into the pastorate after a year of traveling evangelism. I enjoy many crafts, photography and homemaking issues.